Antonio Corpora

Antonio Corpora, born in Tunis on August 15, 1909 to Italian parents, was a leading figure in 20th-century Italian painting. After studying at the École des Beaux-Arts in Tunis, he moved to Italy, spending time in Florence, Rome, and Milan before settling permanently in Rome in 1945. There, as a guest in Renato Guttuso’s studio, he connected with major figures of postwar Italian art, including Gino Severini, Nino Franchina, Giulio Turcato, Pietro Consagra, Piero Dorazio, and Achille Perilli. His cosmopolitan background and firsthand knowledge of early 20th-century French painting set him apart from his contemporaries and drove him to advocate for a renewal of Italian pictorial language in a European context. In 1946, together with Guttuso, he organized a “neo-cubist” exhibition in Rome, foreshadowing the birth of the Fronte Nuovo delle Arti, of which he became one of the most active members. With this group, he participated in the 1948 Venice Biennale, presenting works such as Veduta di città (1945), La pesca grossa, and I lavoratori del mare (both 1949). In 1951, he won the prestigious “Prix de Paris” jointly with Zoran Mušic, cementing his international reputation. The following year, he held a solo exhibition at the Galerie de France in Paris, introduced by Christian Zervos, and the Musée National d’Art Moderne acquired his work Canari, cage et fenêtre. Throughout his career, Corpora also joined the Gruppo degli Otto (1952), taking part in major international exhibitions of abstract art. His painting evolved toward an increasing decomposition of forms and an identification of color with structure. In 2003, he was appointed academician of San Luca, in recognition of his long and influential career. Antonio Corpora died in Rome on September 6, 2004, leaving an artistic legacy that bridges Mediterranean tradition and European avant-garde.